A review of last weekend’s Praslin Culinary and Arts Fiesta and perhaps lessons to be learned by other tourism destinations.
| Tourism: "It takes a popular event to raise the profile of the destination" says Praslin Hoteliers in the Seychelles
by a South Africa based Journalist who joined the Praslin Island Fiesta |
"Claim back our Tourism Industry" has been a statement made a couple of years ago by James Michel, the President of the Republic of Seychelles when he held the tourism portfolio and was instrumental in the relaunching of the island’s tourism industry. The Seychelles President wanted to see more Seychellois get involved in the tourism industry of their country in order to get local communities to defend and protect that remains the pillar of the Seychelles economy. Last weekend, the Praslinois staged their first edition of the Praslin Culinary & Arts Fiesta and they were supported by their local Members of the National Assembly, District Administrators and the Ministry of Tourism & Culture and its Tourism Board.
‘Community’ was the buzz word that described the togetherness that existed on Praslin as the business community, their staff and thousands joined to make the event the biggest Praslin Island had ever seen..
For Praslin Island ‘community’ was simply the coming together of people of like mind, interest, beliefs, and vision.
As the local DMCs (Destination Management Companies) were alerting the tourism sector that cancellations were steadily increasing since the Ebola Epidemic scare, the Praslin Hoteliers joined together to raise the profile of their island as a destination in itself. "The Seychelles authorities imposed Visa requirements for travellers originating from a long list of countries considered to be part of West Africa. This was done to ensure Seychelles remained safe from this decease that was touching the mainland of Africa, but this brought cancellations of bookings from tour operators" said a Praslin Hotel Manager.
Another Hotel on the main island of Mahe itself was at the same time receiving cancellations from China because a Tour Operator in China wanted more guarantees that Seychelles was Ebola Free. A DMC (Destination Management Company) confirmed that cancellations from China were now being recorded as they appealed to the Ministry of Tourism and Culture of the Islands to assist. Tourism is a very fragile industry and suffers from any instability of the situation that inspires travellers to book their holidays. Tourism for Seychelles is the industry that continues to lead in the economic recovery of these islands. It is today accepted that travellers of the world have become more and more appreciative of the opportunity that travel & tourism affords them to make meaningful connections with the places they travel. Community based events and activities has become a compelling reason to visit, and a competitive advantage for holiday destinations.
This is why the Business Community of the island of Praslin in the Seychelles must be congratulated for rallying their staff and the large majority of the islanders for a Fiesta. Their event was nothing less than a Community Based Event. The organisers and participants were all ultimately stakeholders in the island’s tourism industry. Praslin needed to have its profile raised and their tourism business community accompanied by their strong workforce used their unique icon, the island’s Coco-de-Mer to get all the attention they wanted. The environmentalists to the amazement of the Praslin Tourism Businesses moved to discredit the event saying that this would encourage poaching of the unique nut that was already being exported by tons to China and advertised for sale on the Internet Site ‘Alibaba.com‘.
The Praslin Culinary & Arts Fiesta was nevertheless that success it deserved to be for the island of Praslin and for its tourism industry. Thousands of revellers travelled from the main island of Mahe and from the nearby La Digue island to participate with the Praslinois in their first edition of their Fiesta.
Praslin Hotel Owners and many of their staff members have been echoing their appreciation that their Fiesta had been the success it was. They have written to the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and to the Tourism Board to express their thanks for all those who have worked together to make their Fiesta a popular success. These statements by those directly involved in the tourism industry, in many ways, tells the leaders of the islands what they know, in their minds and in their master plans. And yet, because of the frequency (and possibly overuse) of many terms central to the advancement of the tourism sector, terms such as ‘sustainability’, ‘empowerment’ and ‘community’, this knowing suffers a break in connection between the head and the heart. Indirectly, through strategies, SWOT analysis, and statements of vision, mission and values we know that community and their popular events matters. "We know the people of tourism matter. We know that developing the sector in a way that makes us locals feel a part of its delivery and development is the right thing to do" a Kitchen Chef taking part in the culinary competition in the Praslin Fiesta told a visiting journalist from South Africa.
